The morning sun had painted the sky the color of blood, and as the clouds moved aside, the blue of the sky became visible.
The Fourth Lady's villa usually had no guests, and a guest arriving at this hour of the day was unprecedented.
The guest was in a carriage carried on the shoulders of men, with silk curtains that the faint morning sun had turned red.
The guards at the first entrance came forward to check, but as soon as they reached a distance where the face behind the curtain was visible, they stepped aside.
The carriage entered the villa without obstruction, and the First Lady stepped down and sat in the pavilion. She dismissed the servants and maids and ordered them not to wake the lady of the house.
After some time, when the birds began to sing, Ling Yue, like any former martial artist, rose from sleep out of habit.
Geon-ma and Seon were also awake. Seon was wrapping a cloth around the sphere, and Gon was helping her move it. Seon always helped with the villa's chores without anyone asking, and Geon-ma enjoyed helping Seon.
Seon read the troubled and anxious looks of the servants and knew that this morning was different from other mornings. The servants' footsteps were firm in one direction and cautious in another, and their glances unconsciously turned toward the window.
Without saying a word, they told Seon everything she needed to know: someone of high rank was in the courtyard, perhaps the Heavenly Demon.
Seon wanted to see the god who ruled her prison with claw and sword, so she asked Geon-ma to help her quietly go toward the courtyard.
When they reached the courtyard, she saw that the pavilion had been prepared and someone was sitting in it, but Seon could not tell who it was.
As Seon tried to move a little closer, Geon-ma took her hand: "Where did that lady go?"
Lady? Who?
"Sitting too long isn't good for the body."
Mi Lin, the First Lady, had reached Seon and Geon-ma. Seon now understood both the servants' anxiety and the lady who carried the majesty of the Flame Blade Clan.
Seon bowed fully: "Greetings to the First Lady, and long live the Heavenly Demon."
Geon-ma, looking at Mi Lin, did not know what was happening or who she was.
Mi Lin bent her knees to her stomach and stroked Seon's and Geon-ma's heads: "Formalities are not for children, and I don't seek pointless respect."
Ling Yue, who had just heard from the maids of the First Lady's arrival, saw the First Lady lifting Geon-ma with both hands.
Ling Yue greeted her: "What brings the First Lady here?"
She set Geon-ma down: "Many things. I hope it's not rude that I've invited myself to breakfast at the Fourth Lady's villa."
A real morning with a blue sky and white clouds and a sun that did not harm.
The maids brought tea and sweets and left the pavilion; even the guards withdrew and stood facing the wall.
"You were supposed to hold a meeting with me and the other wives of the Heavenly Demon after the first coming-of-age ceremony of your sons, to use Dung-i and her son to reduce the resentment among us."
Ling Yue knew why Mi Lin was being so direct; even among conspirators, trust must be established.
"At the core of the Hao faction is the Hao clan, and I believe they approached me under the Murim faction's plan."
Mi Lin took a sip of her tea and touched her chin with her hand: "The Murim faction always conspires, and the Hao faction is always untrustworthy, but I wonder how members of our sect fell into this death trap, and one of the culprits sits before me without receiving punishment."
Ling Yue knew the answer to this question would determine the future of Lan and Zhan, and now Geon-ma.
The First Lady's enmity is the worst poison for a member of the sect, and the First Lady's friendship is the best salve for any problem.
Perhaps honesty was not the best answer, but it was the only thing Ling Yue had now: "I screamed and unintentionally insulted the Heavenly Demon."
Mi Lin, always cold, was shocked.
"But the Heavenly Demon at that moment was not the bringer of justice; justice for Dung-i and Geon was what was expected of the Heavenly Demon."
Mi Lin, whose shoulders had slackened from shock and surprise, murmured: "Then why?"
Let my thoughts flow honestly: "At that moment, the Heavenly Demon was a father and a husband. I think as a father he first thought of what was best for his children, and then as a husband he forgave me."
Mi Lin frowned slightly: "The Heavenly Demon is neither a father nor a husband; the Heavenly Demon is only the Heavenly Demon."
I thought the same until that moment: "I had accepted my punishment from the beginning, but cold hands took the cup of poison from my hands."
Mi Lin understood that the original intention had been to punish Ling Yue: "So according to sect custom, your cup of poison is to be emptied by your deeds."
In the Heavenly Demon Sect, the cup of poison is for an honorable and noble death, without the body being harmed or the cause of death being known. Sometimes, depending on deeds done for the sect's benefit, a person's cup of poison is reduced less and less until no poison remains and they are freed from punishment.
But a cup of poison that has not been drunk means a chain that is always around the criminal's neck, and if they do not bring enough benefit or commit another crime, there is no second chance.
"I'm sorry for you. Now for decades, until your cup is emptied, you can do nothing, and you cannot even support your sons."
As I thought, the Heavenly Demon is still the Heavenly Demon and has chained even his own wife. Ling Yue was talented, but now she has no power at all.
"But my cup is empty now."
"?!"
Mi Lin thought Ling Yue had misunderstood the sect's rules: "The cup of poison does not remain empty; either it is drunk or it evaporates through your deeds."
Let honesty flow: "Those cold hands took the cup from me, and the Heavenly Demon himself drank it."
Mi Lin's astonished eyes waited for her to continue.
"The Heavenly Demon did not execute justice; he shared the punishment with me, and my share of the punishment became raising the son whose mother I took from him."
Mi Lin knew this was not the act of a Heavenly Demon. Ling Yue, who like the other wives had only the duty of raising heirs, had forced the Heavenly Demon to act like a father.
If this is not a miracle, then what is it? Had Ling Yue's honesty reached the Heavenly Demon's heart?
Ling Yue's honesty had reached someone else's heart too; Mi Lin also wanted a father for her daughter.
Mi Lin reached out and, touching Ling Yue's glass, warmed her tea: "Whatever has happened, you now have three sons, meaning three potential heirs."
"The other wives and clans are not going to reconcile with you, and now that Dung-i is gone, you have no piece to save yourself."
Ling Yue sipped her tea and looked at the First Lady with determined eyes: "If it were easy, it wouldn't be punishment."
Mi Lin laughed: "Today I too can be as forgiving as the Heavenly Demon and drink a little of the poison of your future problems."
Mi Lin did not say she was an enemy or intended enmity; she said she would share in solving Ling Yue's future problems.
Lan and Zhan woke up and looked at the courtyard from the window.
Apart from the guards who had pressed their foreheads to the wall, the sight of two radiant ladies laughing could be seen in the pavilion.
Lan murmured: "The best day begins with a morning in which beautiful women smile."